هل بالطلول لسائل رد — Abu Al Shees Al Khuzaie

هَل بالطُلولِ لِسائلٍ رَدُّ

أَو هَل لَها بِتَكَلُّمٍ عَهدُ

Do the ruins have a reply for a questioner?

Or have they any acquaintance with speech?

دَرَس الجَديد جَديدَ مَعهَدها

فَكأنَّما هيَ رَيطةٌ جَردُ

Time has worn away the freshness of their dwelling,

as though they were a worn, seamless cloth,

مِن طُولِ ما يَبكي الغَمام عَلى

عَرَصاتِها وَيُقَهقِه الرَعدُ

from all the time the clouds have wept upon

their courtyards, while thunder laughs aloud.

وَتُلِثُّ سارية وَغادِيَةٌ

وَيكُرُّ نَحسٌ خَلفَهُ سَعدُ

Night-rain and morning-rain linger,

and bad fortune returns, followed by good.

تلقي شآمية يَمانية

لَهما بمورِ تُرابِها سَردُ

A Syrian wind meets a Yemeni wind;

the two ceaselessly churn their dust.

فَكَسَت بواطِنُها ظَواهِرُها

نَوراً كأَنَّ زُهاءَهُ بُردُ

Their depths have clothed their surface

in blossoms, whose profusion seems a patterned mantle.

يَغدو فَيسدي نَسجه حَدبٌ

واهي العُرى وَوئيده عَقدُ

At dawn a swelling cloud lays down its weave;

its bonds are loose; its heavy patter knots the weave.

فَوقَفتُ أَسأَلُها وَليسَ بِها

إِلا المَها وَنقانِقٌ رُبدُ

I stood questioning them, though they held

only oryx and dusky male ostriches.

فَتَبادَرَت دَرَرُ الشُؤون عَلى

خَدّي كَما يَتَناثَرُ العِقدُ

Then streams from my tear ducts raced down

my cheeks, like a necklace scattering,

أَو نَضح عَزلاء العَسيب وَقَد

راحَ العَسيفُ بِمائِها يَعدو

or spray from a waterskin's open spout, when

a hired hand runs off carrying its water,

وَمُكدَّم في عانَةٍ خَفَرَت

حَتى يُهيّج شأَوها الوَردُ

and a bite-scarred wild ass amid a herd that stays sheltered,

until the journey to water stirs the herd's running.

لَهفي عَلى دَعد وَما خُلِقَت

إِلا لِطولِ بَليّتي دَعدُ

My anguish for Da'd! She was not created—

Da'd—except to prolong my affliction.

بَيضاءُ قَد لَبِسَ الأديمُ بها

ءُ الحُسن فَهوَ لِجِلدِها جِلدُ

Fair-skinned, her skin has donned the splendor

of beauty; it is a skin upon her skin.

وَيَزينُ فودَيها إِذا حَسَرت

ضافي الغَدائر فاحِمٌ جَعدُ

And when she unveils, her temples are adorned by

abundant tresses, coal-black and curly.

فالوَجهُ مِثل الصُبح مُنبلِجٌ

والشَعر مِثلَ الليلِ مُسوَّدُ

So her face shines like dawn,

and her hair is black as night.

ضِدّان لَما استَجمعا حَسُنا

والضدّ يُظهِرُ حُسنَهُ الضِدُّ

Two opposites, beautiful when brought together;

each opposite brings out the other's beauty.

وَجَبينُها صَلتٌ وحاجِبُها

شَختُ المخَطّ أَزَجُّ مُمتَدّ

Her forehead is smooth, and her eyebrow

fine-lined, arched and long.

وَكأَنَّها وَسنَى إِذا نظَرَت

أَو مدنَفٌ لما يُفِق بَعدُ

And when she looks, she seems drowsy,

or an invalid who has not yet recovered,

بِفتورِ عَين ما بِها رَمَدٌ

وَبِها تُداوَى الأَعين الرُّمدُ

with languor in an eye untouched by soreness,

yet by it sore eyes are healed.

وَتُريكَ عَرنيناً يُزيّنه

شَمَمٌ وَخداً لَونُهُ الوَردُ

She shows you a nose adorned

with a high bridge, and a cheek rose-colored.

وَتجيلُ مِسواك الأراك عَلى

رَتلٍ كأنَّ رُضابه الشُّهدُ

She passes an arak tooth-stick over

even teeth, whose saliva seems honey in the comb.

والجيدُ مِنها جيدُ جازئَةٌ

تَعطو إِذا ما طَلَّها البَردُ

Her neck is that of a gazelle content with grazing,

reaching upward when the cold bedews her.

وامتدَّ مِن أعضادِها قَصَبٌ

فَعمٌ تَلته مَرافِقٌ دُردُ

Long shafts stretch from her upper arms,

full-fleshed, followed by smooth elbows.

والمِعصمان فَما يُرى لَهُما

مِن نَعمة وَبَضاضَةٍ زَندُ

As for her wrists, there is no visible

wrist-bone, such is their softness and plumpness.

وَلَها بَنانٌ لَو أَردتَ لَهُ

عَقداً بِكفّك أَمكن العَقدُ

She has fingers that, if you wished,

you could tie into a knot with your hand.

وَكأنَّما سُقيَت تَرائِبُها

والنَحرُ ماء الحسن إِذ تَبدو

As though her collarbones had been watered,

and her throat, with beauty's water when she appears.

وَبِصَدرِها حُقّان خِلتُهما

كافورتينِ عَلاهُما نَدُّ

On her chest are two round caskets; I took them

for two camphor globes topped with perfume.

والبَطنُ مَطويٌّ كَما طوِيَت

بيضُ الرِباط يَصونُها الملدُ

Her belly is folded, as folded are

white wrappings, kept safe by soft-skinned youths.

وَبِخَصرِها هَيَفٌ يُزيّنهُ

فإِذا تَنوءُ يَكادُ يَنقدُّ

Her waist has a slenderness that adorns it,

and when she rises heavily, it almost snaps.

وَلهاهَنٌ رابٍ مَجَسَّتُهُ

ضيقُ المَسالك حَرَّهُ وَقدُ

She has a swollen vulva, raised to the touch,

narrow in its passages, its heat a blaze.

فَكأَنَّهُ مِن كِبَرِهِ قَدَحٌ

أَكلَ العيالُ وَكبَّهُ العَبدُ

As though, from its size, it were a bowl

from which the family ate and which the servant overturned.

فإِذا طَعَنتَ طعَنتَ في لبَدِ

وإِذا سَلَلتَ يَكادُ يَنسَدُّ

When you thrust, you thrust into felt,

and when you withdraw, it nearly seals shut.

والتَفَّ فَخذاها وَفَوقهما

كَفَلٌ يُجاذِبُ خَصرِها نَهدُ

Her thighs press together, and above them

is a high, ample rump that tugs against her waist.

فَقيامُها مَثنى إِذا نَهَضَت

مِن ثِقلِهِ وَقُعودُها فَردُ

She rises in two movements when she stands,

because of its weight, but sits down in one.

والسَاقُ خُرعُبةٌ مُنَعمَّة

عَبِلَت فَطَوقُ الحِجل مُنسَدُّ

Her shank is supple and pampered,

grown full, so the anklet's ring is snugly filled.

والكَعبُ أَدرَمُ لا يَبينُ لَهُ

حَجمٌ وَليسَ لِرأسِهِ حَدُّ

Her ankle is fleshy, with no visible

projection and no sharp edge to its head.

وَمَشَت عَلى قَدَمَينِ خُصّرتا

وأُلينَتا فَتَكامَلَ القَدُّ

She walks on two feet narrowed at the middle

and made soft, so her figure is complete.

ما شانَها طولٌ وَلا قِصَرٌ

في خَلقِها فَقَوامُها قَصدُ

Neither height nor shortness mars her

in her form: her stature is well-proportioned.

إِن لَم يَكُن وَصلٌ لَديكِ لَنا

يَشفي الصَبابةَ فَليَكُن وَعدُ

If you have no union for us

to heal this longing, let there be a promise.

قَد كانَ أَورَق وَصلكُم زَمَناً

فَذَوى الوِصالُ وأَورَقَ الصَدُّ

Your union once put forth leaves for a time,

then union withered and rejection leafed anew.

لِلَّهِ أَشواقي إِذا نَزَحَت

دارٌ بِنا وَنأى بِكُم بُعد

God, how great my longings when

a dwelling carries us far, and distance bears you away!

إن تُتهِمي فَتَهامَةٌ وَطَني

أَو تُنجِدي إِنَّ الهَوى نَجدُ

If you go to Tihama, Tihama is my homeland;

or to Najd—indeed, love is Najd.

وَزَعمتِ أَنَّكَ تَضمرينَ لَنا

ودّاً فَهلاّ يَنفَعُ الودُّ

You claimed that you harbor for us

affection—why, then, does that affection not help?

وإِذا المُحبّ شَكا الصُدود وَلَم

يُعطَف عَليهِ فَقَتَلَهُ عَمدُ

When a lover complains of rejection and is not

shown compassion, then killing him is deliberate.

تَختَصّها بالود وَهيَ عَلى

ما لا تُحِبُّ فَهَكَذا الوَجدُ

You single her out for affection while she persists

in what you do not love: such is passion.

أَو ما تَرى طِمريَّ بَينَهُما

رَجُلٌ أَلحَّ بِهَزلِهِ الجِدُّ

Or do you not see my two ragged garments, between them

a man whose jesting is hounded by earnestness?

فالسَيفُ يَقطَعُ وَهوَ ذو صَدأ

والنَّصلُ يَعلوا الهامَ لا الغِمدُ

The sword cuts even though it is rusty,

and the blade strikes heads, not the sheath.

هَل يَنفعنَّ السَيفَ حِليَتَهُ

يَومَ الجلاد إِذا نَبا الحَدُّ

Will a sword's ornament ever help it

on the day of combat if its edge glances off?

وَلَقَد عَلِمتِ بأَنَّني رَجُلٌ

في الصَالِحاتِ أَروُحُ أَو أَغدو

You have surely known that I am a man

who sets out in good works, evening or morning.

سلم عَلى الأَدنى وَمَرحَمةٌ

وَعَلى الحوادِثِ هاديءٌ جَلدُ

Peaceful and merciful toward those nearest,

and calm and steadfast in the face of calamities.

مُتَجلبِبٌ ثَوبَ العَفاف وَقَد

غَفَلَ الرَقيب وأَمكَنَ الوِردُ

Clad in the garment of chastity, even when

the watcher is heedless and the watering-place lies open.

وَمُجانِبٌ فِعلَ القَبيح وَقَد

وَصَلَ الحَبيبُ وَساعَدَ السَعدُ

And shunning ugly deeds, even when

the beloved grants union and good fortune helps.

مَنَع المطامِعَ أَن تُثلّمني

إِنّي لِمعوَلِها صَفاً صَلهُ

What kept greedy desires from chipping away at me

was that I am unyielding rock before their pickaxe.

فأَروحُ حرّاً مِن مَذلّتِها

والحرُّ حينَ يُطيعُها عَبدُ

Thus I go free of their humiliation;

a free man who obeys them is a slave.

آلَيتُ أَمدح مُقرِفاً أَبَداً

يَبقى المَديحُ وَيَذهَبُ الرَفدُ

I have sworn never to praise a baseborn man:

praise remains, while the gift disappears.

هَيهاتَ يأَبى ذاكَ لي سَلَفٌ

خَمَدوا وَلَم يَخمد لَهُم مَجدُ

Far be it! My forebears forbid me that;

they died out, yet their glory did not die out.

والجَدُّ كِندَةُ والبَنونُ هُمُ

فَزَكا البَنونُ وأَنجَبَ الجَدُّ

The forefather is Kinda, and they are the sons;

the sons proved worthy, and the forefather begot nobles.

فَلِئَن قَفَوت جَميلَ فِعلهمُ

بِذَميم فِعلي إِنَّني وَغدُ

So if I follow their noble deeds

with my own shameful deeds, I am a knave.

أَجمِل إِذا حاولتَ في طَلَب

فالجِدُّ يَغني عنكَ لا الجَدُّ

Be gracious when you strive in seeking;

earnest effort avails you, not luck.

ليَكُن لَديك لِسائلٍ فَرَجٌ

إِن لَم يَكُن فَليَحسُنِ الرَدُّ

Let a petitioner find relief with you;

if that is not possible, let your reply be kind.

وَطَريد لَيلٍ ساقَهُ سَغَبٌ

وَهناً إِليَّ وَقادَهُ بَردُ

And a night-wanderer, driven by hunger,

late at night to me, and led by cold—

أَوسَعَت جُهد بَشاشَةٍ وقِرى

وَعَلى الكَريم لِضيفِهِ الجُهدُ

I lavished all I could of welcome and hospitality;

a generous man owes his guest his utmost.

فَتصرَّم المَشتى وَمَنزلُهُ

رَحبٌ لَديَّ وَعَيشهُ رَغدُ

The winter passed, and his lodging

was spacious with me, his living easy.

ثُمَ اغتَدى ورِداؤُهُ نِعَمٌ

أسأرتُها ورِدائي الحَمدُ

Then he set out at dawn, his cloak the blessings

I had left him, and my cloak praise.

يا ليتَ شِعري بَعدَ ذَلِكُم

وَمَصيرُ كلِّ مُؤَمّلٍ لَحدُ

Would that I knew, after all of this—

when every hopeful person's end is a grave—

أَصريعُ كَلم أم صريعُ ضنىً

أَودى فَليسَ مِن الرَدى بُدُّ

shall I, felled by a wound or felled by wasting sickness,

perish? There is no escape from death.